That book was by US and anti-Iran Iraqi general, to portrait that as "realistic" is just weird. Any oficial US or Israel study what concerns Iran is by default filled with bias and propaganda.
Your blindness prevents you from making a rational assessment. Hamdani has been much greater and vocal critic of Saddam then Iran.
And if you have no faith in Western sources then tell me that how many textbooks that you have studied in life are from Iranian authors? The computer that you use is also made in Iran?
You mean those Shia's who run the Iraq now?
They even kicked out US army and declined their demands to build military bases, US even resorted to blackmailing and strong-arming, didnt worked. I think Iran did well there
Iraqi government is democratic in nature now. Sunni; Kurd; Shia; all have representatives in this government; thanks to US efforts. The ethnic background of the leader is no longer a valid argument.
In addition, no one kicked US out of Iraq. It was Obama's decision to withdraw from Iraq completely with no US troops to be left behind, and this withdrawal took place in peaceful manner. But this is not a sign of end of US-Iraqi relationship; Iraq is buying US weapons and have US embassy.
This was the deal:-
Going down to zero by the end of this year would allow both al-Maliki and President Barack Obama to claim victory. Obama will have fulfilled a key campaign promise to end the war and al-Maliki will have ended the American presence in Iraq and restored Iraqi sovereignty.
My point is in context of the Iraqi resistance effort during the occupation period. The Shia uprising was heavily armed by Iran; Muqtada Al-Sadr has been the key figure of this sector. Despite hectic efforts by both Iran and Muqtada Al-Sadr, they were unable to defeat US armed forces and the resistance effort died during 2008.
Mark my words; when it comes to combat - US is much stronger then Israel. You (Iranians) cannot handle US on military terms.
Considering US was close to bankruptcy, and even Afghanistan costed ~4 trillions, to think war against Iran wont have serious consequences to US economy is not very wise.
US was not close to bankruptcy. It faced an economic recession and is now in recovery phase.
Also, total cost of WOT is close to 4 Trillion USD; not Afghanistan alone. Iraqi front has been the most expensive one in WOT.
Get your facts straight.
Picture Vietnam war, just with a much greater cost to US and alies, in all areas - human loses, equipment, cut-off Persian Gulf oil and gas supplies (most analyst forget gas - its impact will be as great as oil cut-off).
If US attacks Iran, it will literally halt the Worlds economy and put it in even deeper recession. Such situation wont be sustainable by the West, and they wouldnt be winning over Iran anytime soon. Therefore ending is inevitable - US would pick up their things and leave, without achieving their main goals.
Such war will affect China too - which will do everything they can to prevent the war, and if it happens - they would help Iran as much as they can so the war would be shorter. China wont allow Iran to become proxy of US, not only because they would lose a buffer zone, but also because all major oil countries would be US proxies, and US would gain a major leverage against China.
Please stop. Iran is not the nerve center of this world, which will trigger worldwide economic collapse and chaos. This nonsense may appeal to Iranians but not outsiders.
Some dose of reality for you:
1. US itself is now the 3rd largest exporter of OIL in the world.
2. Libya is under Western grasp and offers viable alternative to European clients of oil of Iran. China lost this market.
3. GCC countries have a contigency plan to export their oil through other channels/regions, if Hormuz becomes a battlefield.
4. Most countries which depend upon Iranian oil are now looking for alternative sources.
5. If war between US led coalition and Iran breaks out; any oil supply related setback will be temporary. US will overcome Iran within a month and reopen even the Hormuz region.
6. China will never fight for Iran.
7. Saudi Arabia is willing to boost its oil exports even further to offset the temporary setback of closure of the Hormuz region in case of war between US led coalition and Iran.
8. Iran has no option but to sell oil for its survival in the end. Otherwise, it will suffer immensely and the Mullahs will loose power.